Thursday, August 18, 2005

Veterinary Information for Dogs: "Signs of heat exhaustion include heavy panting, hyperventilation (deep breathing), increased salivation early then dry gums as the heat prostration progresses, weakness, confusion or inattention, vomiting or diarrhea and sometimes bleeding. As the condition progresses towards heat prostration or heat stroke there may be obvious paleness or graying to the gums, shallowing of the breathing efforts and eventually slowed or absent breathing efforts, vomiting and diarrhea that may be bloody and finally seizures or coma. Temperatures above 105 degrees Fahrenheit are dangerous"

Demodex Mites and Your Dog: "If you choose to use amitraz (Mitaban Rx) to treat the demodectic mange at this stage you will have
eliminated the possibility of determining if the mange would have cleared up on her own, unless the
amitraz doesn' t work. I do not believe that you can use the ease of treatment as a gauge to
determine whether or not a case of demodecosis would have resolved on its own. There is probably
room to argue this point but I think it is better to be sure of this situation prior to choosing to breed a
dog with demodecosis.
Amitraz (Mitaban Rx) is a very toxic medication. This is the other thing that makes me reluctant to
treat a patient for a demodecosis prior to the time it is obviously necessary to do so. In order to
understand how a medication this toxic ever got approved, you have to understand the whole
situation. Prior to the time that amitraz was available most dogs that developed generalized
demodectic mange died from the disease. When I was in veterinary school this was a serious threat
to affected dogs, as there was no effective treatment at the time. So when amitraz killed 3 out of the
1100 test dogs and caused other dogs to have adverse reactions, including, incoordination, severe
lethargy and seizures, this was an acceptable risk -- compared to the high likelihood of death from
the demodecosis. However, this risk is not as easily justified when looking at the population of dogs
who will get over the mange all by themselves, which is approximately 80% of the dogs affected by
demodecosis. I am opposed to putting my patients and their owners at risk for severe side effects
when there may be no reason to do so. "

Demodex Mites and Your Dog: "Demodectic mange is also contagious, in that most dogs acquire the
infection from their mother. The mite usually lives in relative harmony
with the dog and it is assumed that most dogs have Demodex canis mites on
their body. If the dog's immune system is competent the mites are
suppressed and never achieve large enough numbers to cause
damage. Sometimes, local areas of the skin are affected by hair loss
(alopecia) and secondary bacterial infections are common. When there are a
number of spots, or the spots have spread over large areas of the body and
when these spots do not clear up without treatment in four to eight weeks,
the dog is said to have generalized demodectic mange. Localized demodectic
mange is thought to occur due to transient stress or a decrease in local
immune function at the affected sites. Generalized demodectic mange is
thought to be due to a specific deficiency in T-cells that suppress these
mites. This is thought to be a hereditary condition "